History
Professor Michael Perri teaches and researches History with an emphasis on colonial Latin America, U.S. intellectual and social history. His scholarship involves the use of original documents to explore historical develops, events, and personalities in Venezuela and Mexico. He has won teaching accolades and was a founding member of the University’s Program for Learning and Community Engagement (PLACE).
Professor Perri started at A&M-Texarkana in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of History and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2008 and Full Professor in 2018. Before coming to Texarkana, he was a Visiting Professor of History at the University of Minnesota at Morris from 2002–2004 while writing his dissertation. He was an instructor at Dillard University in New Orleans, 2001–2002 and before that he taught History as an adjunct instructor in Georgia at both Emory University, 1996–2000, and Reinhardt College, 1996–1998.
Professor Perri earned his BA and MA History degrees at University of California, Santa Barbara in 1988 and 1993 respectively. He double-majored as an undergraduate, earning a BA in German along with his History degree. The focus of his Master’s degree was Latin American and Iberian studies. He received his Ph.D. from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in 2004. His dissertation was titled The Spanish Conquest of the Pearl Coast and the Search for the Province of the Meta.
Professor Perri teaches an array of History classes at A&M-Texarkana. Along with lower-division sections of U.S. History, he offers classes on Nazi Germany, Latin America in colonial times, Modern Latin America, Mexican History, Texas Cultural History, and the Spanish Conquest. Among his most popular classes is 419: American Social and Intellectual History, which analyzes original texts of thinkers who have had an impact on American history. His focus on cultural history has involved teaching excursions to Mexico, where he also helped establish a formal affiliation with La Salle University. In 2017, the Texas A&M University System named him a member of the Chancellor's Academy of Teacher Educators honoring individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of teacher education across the Texas A&M University System.
Professor Perri’s scholarship focuses on Latin American colonial history, including the Spanish conquest and colonization of eastern Venezuela during the 1500s. He has published peer-reviewed articles in prestigious academic journals, including The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Latin American History and Environment and History. He has also published a peer-reviewed article on teaching history and regularly writes review essays. He is currently working on an examination of the expeditions of Diego de Ordás in what is today eastern Venezuela.
